Device to disassemble connector assemblies



Jan. 21, 1969 E. BEINHAUR DEVICE TO DISASSEMBLE CONNECTOR ASSEMBLIESOriginal Filed Jan. 28, 1964 Sheet I of 2 INVENTOR. ERNEST L'LQYDBum-mun y 4-W 1969 E. BEINHAUR 3, 2

DEVICE TO DISASSEMBLE CONNECTOR ASSEMBLIES Original Filed Jan. 28, 1964Sheet 2 0f.2

' la f 12 NIH Y, INVENTOR. ERNGSf-LLQYP BEIMHMIR United States Patent3,422,521 DEVICE T0 DISASSEMBLE CONNECTOR ASSEMBLIES Ernest L. Beinhaur,Harrisburg, Pa., assignor to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Original application Jan. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 340,737, now Patent No.3,268,991, dated Aug. 30, 1966. Divided and this application May 16,1966, Ser. No. 550,296

U.S. Cl. 29203 6 Claims Int. Cl. B21d 9/08 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adevice to disassemble connector assemblies comprises jaw members havingengaging surface areas in opposed relationship for engagement withrespective parts of an assembled connection assembly and handle meanspivotally connected to the jaw members to move the jaw members relativeto each other in a substantially parallel manner.

Cross-reference to related application This application is a division ofapplication, Ser. No. 340,737, filed Jan. 28, 1964, now US. Patent No.3,268,991.

This invention relates to a device to break the connection between twomembers, such as, a wedge member in a body member.

In US. patent application, Ser. No. 215,562, filed Aug. 8, 1962, now US.Patent No. 3,212,534, there is disclosed an explosively-operated tool todrive a wedge member into a C-shaped connector body to effect anexcellent mechanical and electrical connection between conductormembers. Of course, other methods may be used to effect such aconnection. After the connection has been effected, it sometimes becomesnecessary to break the connection. Since the connection members are sotightly wedged together, it is extremely difficult to disconnect themespecially if they have been connected in the manner disclosed in -U.S.patent application, Ser. No. 341,223 filed Jan. 30, 1964, now abandoned.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide adevice for disconnecting members that have been frictionally connected.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a tool todisconnect frictionally connected members.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an attachment tobe mounted on an existing tool to disconnect frictionally connectedmembers.

Other objects and attainments of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings inwhich there are shown and described illustrative embodiments of theinvention; it is to be understood, however, that these embodiments arenot intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention but aregiven for purposes of illustration and principles thereof and the mannerof applying them in practical use so that they may modify them invarious forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions of aparticular use.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a manually operated tool with parts inphantom;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the tool in an operatingposition;

FIGURE 3 is a partial side view of an alternative embodiment;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an attachment with parts in phantom;and

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 4.

3,422,521 Patented Jan. 21, 1969 Turning now to FIGURE 1, there is showna tool T comprising an upper jaw member 1, a lower jaw member 2 andhandles 3 which are pivotally connected together by a pivot pin 4.

Upper jaw member 1 is L-shaped and has one leg 5 pivotally connected tothe upper end of one handle by pin 6. The other leg 7 has a extension 8extending toward jaw member 2.

Lower jaw member 2 is pivotally connected to the other handle by pin 9and the surface thereof facing upper jaw member 1 includes steppedsections 10 which permit the tool to be used with a number of differentsize connectors.

In operation, one side of wedge W of connector assembly C is placedagainst one of stepped sections 10 and handles 3 are brought toward eachother so that extension 8 engages one side of connector body CB.Pressure is then exerted on handles 3 thereby causing wedge W andconnector body CB to become disengaged. It should be pointed out thatthe connector assembly can be reversed within the jaw members to effectthe same result.

Jaw members 1 and 2 are pivoted on handles 3 so that parallelism ismaintained therebetween during operation thereof. Also, pivot pins 6 and'9 are placed as close to pivot pin 4 as possible in order to providethe most practicable working advantage. It is desirable to provide aspring means (not shown) between handles 3 to maintain the tool in anormally inoperative position. While the above described tool ispreferably used to disconnect engaged connector elements, such tool mayalso be used to connect the connector elements together.

FIGURE 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the tool in FIGURES 1 and 2.In this embodiment, upper jaw member 11 has a leg 12 whose surface 13facing lower jaw member 14 has a series of serrated teeth 15.

A slotted member 16 is movably mounted on leg 12 and includes anengaging section 17. A pin 18 is disposed toward the end of leg 12 andprevents slotted member 16 from leaving upper jaw member 12.

Surface 19 of lower jaw member 14 facing surface 13 of the upper jawmember has a projection 20 against which a connector body engages.Slotted member 16 is moved along leg 12 until it is in the correctposition for engaging section 17 to engage a wedge which causes thebottom edge 21 of the slot to engage one of teeth 15 while the oppositeend of the other end of the slot engages the top edge of leg 12 therebymaintaining slotted member 16 in this position while the wedge isdisconnected from the connector body. The remainder of FIGURE 3 issimilar to that of FIGURES 1 and 2 and need not be described. Thus,teeth 15 and slotted member 16 provide an adjustable feature so thatdifferent size connectors can be inserted within the working area of thetool.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate an attachment A which is easily inserted onthe flat surface of an explosively-operated tool member TM disclosed inUS. Patents 3,212,- 534 and 3,292,363 wherein a detailed explanation ofthe operation thereof can be found.

Attachment A comprises a flat section 21, legs 22 (only one of which isshown) extending outwardly from the edges of one surface of section 21and engaging section 23 extending outwardly from the mid section of fiatsection 21 opposite to that of legs 22.

Flat section 21 has a groove 24 therein to allow ram R of tool member TMto pass freely across section 21. Legs 22 provide retaining means toretain the attachment on flat surface P8 of the tool member.

Engaging section 23 includes a stepped portion 25 which mates with acorresponding stepped portion SP of tool member TM against which steppedportion 25 abuts to limit the movement of attachment A on the toolmember and to provide an engaging area thereon when force is appliedthereto. Engaging section 23 also includes another stepped portion 26which comprises a surface 27 and a projection 28. Wedge W engagessurface 27 when the connector assembly is placed within the attachmentin order to disconnect the wedge from C-shaped connector body CB andprojection 28 keeps wedge W from leaving surface 27 during thedisconnection operation. Between engaging section 23 and fiat section 21there is a space 29 in which the connector body moves while wedge Wremains in engagement with surface 27 The operation of FIGURES 4 and 5is according to the following. Attachment A is placed on flat surface P5of the tool member until stepped portion SP and engaging section 23 arein engagement. A connector assembly C having wedge W frictionallyengaging connector body CB to maintain conductor members CMinterconnected is placed on attachment A with connector body CB on flatsection 21 and wedge W engages surface 27. Firing mechanism FM isactuated and ram R thereof forcefully engages connector body CB to driveit within space 29 thereby breaking the connection between the wedge andand connector body.

The embodiment of FIGURES 4 and 5 is preferably used on connectionseffected in US. patent application Ser. No. 341,223, filed Jan. 30,1964, now abandoned; however, it can be used on connections not usingthe swaged wedge. The tools of FIGURES 1-3 can be effectively used onconnections not using the swaged wedge but certainly these tools can beused thereon although with more difliculty than that of the embodimentof FIGURES 4 and 5.

As can be discerned, there has been disclosed novel means to disconnectconnected assemblies which have been connected in such a manner toprovide excellent retentive forces therebetween.

It will, therefore, be appreciated that the aforementioned and otherdesirable objects have been achieved; however, it should be emphasizedthat the particular embodiments of the invention, which are shown anddescribed herein, are intended as merely illustrative and not asrestrictive of the invention.

I claim:

1. A tool for operating on a connection assembly comprising a first jawmember and a second jaw member, one of said jaw members having anengaging surface against which one element of said connection assemblyis adapted to engage, the other of said jaw members having a series ofstepped portions defining selective engaging surfaces, a member movablymounted on the jaw member having the series of stepped portions forengagement therewith, to provide engagement for another element of saidconnection assembly, stop means contiguous said series of steppedportions to prevent said member from leaving said jaw member and handlemeans connected to jaw members to provide relative movement therebetweenand said elements of said connection assembly.

2. A tool according to claim 1 wherein said jaw members are pivotallyconnected to said handle means to provide parallelism therebetweenduring operation thereof.

3. A tool member for operating on elements of connection assembliescomprising a first jaw member having a surface for engaging one of theelements of a connection assembly, a second jaw member having engagingmeans for engaging another of the elements of said connection assembly,said engaging means including a series of stepped portions each of whichdefines a size to accommodate different sizes of said connectionassemblies, handle means pivotally connected together, and means forpivotally connecting said jaw members to said handle means to provideparallelism between said jaw members when same operate on the elementsof the connection assembly to move same relative to each other.

4. A tool member for operating on elements of connection assembliescomprising a first jaw member having a surface for engaging one of theelements of a connection assembly, a second jaw member having engagingmeans for engaging another of the elements of said connection assembly,said engaging means including a series of stepped portions and a slottedmember slidably mounted on said second jaw member for engaging saidstepped portions each of which defines a size to accommodate differentsizes of said connection assemblies, handle means pivotally connectedtogether, and means for pivotally connecting said jaw members to saidhandle means to provide parallelism between said jaw members when sameoperate on the elements of the connection assembly to move same relativeto each other.

5. A tool member according to claim 4 wherein stop means are on saidsecond jaw member to maintain said slotted member thereon.

6. A tool for operating on a connection assembly comprising a first jawmember and a second jaw member, said first jaw member being disposedsubstantially parallel to the second jaw member, handle means connectedto both jaw members, said jaw members being connected to the handlemeans such that lateral movement of the handle means causes the jawmembers to move relative to each other in a substantially parallelmanner, one of said jaw members having an engaging surface against whichone element of said connection assembly is adapted to engage, another ofsaid jaw members having engaging surface means providing selectivepositions along said another of said jaw members for engagement withdifferent sizes of another element of the connection assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,635,496 4/1953 Marasco 81352 X2,953,185 9/1960 Lazar 72-412 3,205,568 9/1965 Stull 72-410 X 3,268,9918/1966 Beinhaur 29203 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

